Prop 13: The Building-Sized Loopholes Corporations Exploit

Bestor's findings have percolated into Ting's stump speech about the iniquities of Prop. 13 — he brought up the Trader Joe's to SF Weekly spontaneously. Ting has met with Bestor at least four times, last year handing her the city's "Land and Improvements" list to pore over.

This data breaks down the percentage of the city's property tax revenue based on the year the real estate was last assessed. Like other municipalities Bestor has researched, San Francisco's is not a pretty picture. Going back to 1995 — older transactions aren't included in the city's database — 53 percent of property has been reassessed. Yet these recent buyers pay 78 percent of the city's overall property tax. Among single-family residential properties, 57 percent of homeowners are paying 81 percent of the taxes. Most San Franciscans are, literally, not getting their money's worth. The winners under Prop. 13, Bestor notes, are "heirs and legacy corporations. We're creating trickle-up wealth."

Michael Short

Years of litigation in the One Market Plaza case, triggered by Wayne Lesser, earned the city $23 million. Lesser got nothing.

Michael Short

One Market Plaza remains the only commercial property in the state in which a concealed change of ownership resulted in fraud penalties.

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• Phil Ting
• Wayne Lesser
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• Taxes
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We're also not going to do much about it. Critics of Prop. 13 like to complain it's been deified by spineless politicians — but We the People like it, too. A September Field Poll revealed 63 percent of state voters would pass Prop. 13 today. Fifty percent of those polled would even oppose raising the tax rate on business and commercial property — down from 68 percent in 1980. Meanwhile, it would require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to close loopholes regarding corporate "change of control." Good luck with that.

In today's fiscal and political landscape, it seems the will is not there to undertake the labor-intensive, proactive steps required to snare the next One Market Plaza — even before crossing swords with ace corporate lawyers. Provided they set aside a little cheddar for the disgruntled sandwich-makers, don't expect to be reading about the next fat cats busted for concealing a change of ownership anytime soon.

E-mail Joe.Eskenazi@SFWeekly.com